"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought*** to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
**Don't know if I really agree with this. I think we should accept people for who they are and see them for who they want to be. I think that is the truest, fairest way to help people become what they are capable of becoming...but right on Goethe!!!!